Darkening Skies
by pluuto
Summary: In a post-apocalyptic world, mankind is in an all-out war with Machines. Nations have had to join together into bigger, stronger supernations. Lukas Bondevik, Norway, is sure that there's some way to stop their enemy's progress and shut them all down for good. But nothing's for certain. And one can only hide for so long.
1. Chapter 1

Life is a funny thing.

It's persistent. It'll just keep fighting back against the forces that wish death upon it. It's truly beautiful, yet sometimes it gets tiring. As prey, survival depends on life's perseverance. As a predator, that certain trait of life is annoying. Almost all things die eventually, some with a little more effort than others.

There are some who will live forever. Well, for as long as their country survives. They can die, sure, but they'll come back. A shot to the heart? A few minutes. Burned to death? A few hours, maybe. Decapitation? That's a toughie, might take a day. But no longer.

Lukas Bondevik, otherwise known as the nation of Norway, had died more than his fair share of times. As a viking it had been a commonplace occurrence. Something that happened once a month. In fact, he'd almost grown used to being slashed and battered and bruised. It seemed natural.

Times had changed since then, obviously, and Lukas' deaths had become less frequent. In the Modern Age, he wasn't sure if he'd died even once. There was war, yes, but things had settled out quite a bit. Peace was prevailing, and positivity was dominant.

This was before the New Era. Before the Machines were built. Before they attacked humanity. Before everyone left alive had to band together to form new countries, new kingdoms, new nations in order to survive. There was no war against each other anymore. The only war that went on now was against the Machines.

There was Amexida. South-Central. FEPS. Germanic Union. Italian Unity. Russian Wilderlands. Baltica. Australia. Nordic Union. And that was all that was left.

The Machines had completely taken over Africa and the Middle East, and recently their occupation area had been growing. Romania and Bulgaria had been taken over, though the nations themselves had made it to Hungary for help and were now under the protection of the Germanic Union.

News traveled slow, due to the fact that for any messages to get anywhere it had to be on foot. There was no more cell service, no more power, no nothing. And it was a long way to walk. All forces available had gone into protecting the borders of the countries, trying futilely to stop the progress of the Machines. It worked a little, though all anyone seemed to be able to do was make the Machines angry.

And other things were changing as well.

For example, the temperature and weather had changed drastically. It no longer snowed. It no longer dropped below forty degrees fahrenheit. The atmosphere had been damaged and thinned severely due to the constant wars and explosions, and so there was not as much protection from the sun as there had been.

But whatever. Lukas could live with the heat, though he'd much rather survive in the cold.

Everyday life had gone on for a while after the Machines had turned hostile and started attacking. People had still worked at their jobs, the birds had still sung their songs, and the clouds had created little cotton balls up in the sky.

That haphazard peace only lasted for around a year.

A year in which everyone was constantly on edge.

The original Machines, the ones that were slowly making their way across Europe, were slow moving. They didn't go very far very fast, though they did go destructively. But they created smaller, more efficient yet not quite as deadly little Machines.

Everyone called those small ones the Beasts.

And they were. The Machines had used any material that they could get their mechanical hands on to build the Beasts, and one of the predominant items that they seemed to find in an abundance was bone. Human and animal.

So some of the Beasts had skulls for heads. Some of them had ribcages full of mechanical clockwork and gears. Some of them were mostly skeletal, with just a few mechanized features keeping them from falling apart.

Of course, they all shared the same trademark feature. The glowing red eyes. All Machines and Beasts had at least one, though most had many more.

Lukas wasn't sure why humanity had thought that building something like the Machines was a good idea. He supposed that it was to get an advantage in wars, though he knew for sure that it wasn't worth it. All the carnage and death… All the widows and orphans and bodies…

Everything had been thanks to one bright young scientist and engineer straight from Oxford University who had moved to South Africa. William F. Johnson. Lukas and his Scandinavian brothers hadn't really been paying much attention to him before he designed the first Machine and its trial run had aired on television.

It had gone smoothly, and evidently William had impressed the right people because in a year there were already a hundred more Machines just like the one that he had built.

Two years passed, and that's right about when they got hostile. They turned, quite suddenly, on mankind and began to slaughter their way through Africa. When the Beasts came along, that was when everyone really panicked.

The threat hadn't seemed that real to anyone who wasn't in Africa. Oh yes, sure there were evil Machines that were slowly taking over the world. But they were only in Africa, and surely the armies would stop them before they got much further.

The armies didn't stop them.

Nothing did.

They sent out the Beasts, who were merciless and destroyed every living thing that they saw. Faster than a human and with highly equipped senses, the Beasts hungered for bloodshed and death.

The Beasts had made it everywhere in the world. To the Americas. Australia. Europe. Asia. Russia. And even to Scandinavia.

Bombshells and mayhem had followed their arrival, and for days the sky was filled with grey smoke. The scent of charcoal and ashes permeated the air. Everything was loud, louder than Lukas could ever remember it being.

Then, it just went silent.

Everyone lived in fear. The Beasts frequented the cities, though they seemed to come out mostly during the night. The buildings were falling down. People died by the hundreds, their bodies littering the streets until one of the Beasts came and used it to create more monsters.

Barely a fraction of the Earth's population was left.

So many people and animals had died at the hands of the machine that the cold chill of death was ever present all around, a unwary feeling that crawls down one's back and sends shivers up their spines. The feeling that makes one want to run and hide and cry. The feeling of abject terror so awful that all one can do is stand there, petrified, while their life seeps away from them.

Yes, that was the feeling that the Earth had nowadays. Death, death, and even more death.

The nation's mortality rate hadn't seemed to change. They could still die and come back, though their regenerating was taking much longer.

Lukas remembered that one time, when he and his family were going from house to house and assuring people that things would be okay, a Beast had erupted out of the shadows and shot Berwald in the heart. They'd grabbed him, ran, and hid beneath the derelict remains of an old bridge.

What should've taken a few minutes took an hour and a half. An hour and a half of Tino's anxious breathing and fearful glances. He'd been crying feely, and started to sob out of sheer relief and joy when Berwald had finally opened his eyes and hugged Tino.

Lukas hadn't died yet at the hands of a Beast or a Machine, though he was sure that in this apocalyptic hellhole of a world it was only a matter of time. At least he'd make sure that he'd be the one to die, instead of Emil or Mathias. He knew that they'd come back, but due to the fact that their mortality seemed to be increasing, he didn't want to risk it.

Since they were all part of the same country now, Nordic Union, they all lived together. Maybe lived wasn't the right word, though, due to the fact that none of them were living life the way it had been before. _Survived_ was a better word. Yeah, they were surviving together.

To be able to tell how much the apocalyptic events had affected life, all one would have to do would be to walk down one of the city streets. The cracked, uneven pavement with mysterious stains. The shattered windows. The half-collapsed buildings. The mechanical whirring of the prowling Beasts. The sky, a permanent dark grey.

People had tended to take to the roofs or the sewers. Very few lived on the ground, and those that did were either very stupid, very brave, or dead.

Lukas and his family had taken shelter with the important members of the government until the power was gone completely and they kicked them out. _You can survive on your own,_ they'd said. _We have to protect the kings and queens and leaders._

So the Nordic nations had been taking shelter in an abandoned church. They'd set up a camp on the uppermost floor, where they could look out through the cracked stained-glass window that was full of holes. Also, since they were up in the rafters, no one who simply walked into the atrium and main part of the church could see them. It was a good hiding place, really, compared to some of the other places that Lukas had seen people surviving.

Food and water had become major issues.

The water was polluted, though if worst came to worst it was still drinkable. Who knows, you might wind up fine, or you might end up dying an excruciatingly painful death, screaming all the way. Lukas wasn't willing to take that risk or let his family do so unless there was simply no other option.

Finding food required raiding stores and houses and hunting the few animals left.

Lukas and the rest of his family had a small stockpile in the corner of their little camp full of cans of food, granola bars, trail mix, jerky, and other mostly non perishable goods, plus bottles of water. They were pretty set for a while, which was good, because Lukas didn't look forward to walking out on the streets.

They'd had more than one encounter with a Beast, and Lukas certainly didn't want to relive those experiences. Since the mechanical monsters were much faster than a human, or a nation for that matter, the only way to escape was to either hide, take to the rooftops, or shoot its bright red eyes. If all the eyes on it were destroyed, then the thing would blow up. So you shoot it and you sprint away and hope that none of the flying shrapnel hits you.

Lukas had kept a record of how many Beasts they'd killed. He'd destroyed 3. Mathias had destroyed 5. Berwald had destroyed 4. Emil and Tino had worked together to destroy 2.

They had assault rifles and a whole lot of ammo that the government had given them. Still, the ammo wouldn't last forever, so they had to be careful.

Of course, there were a few other threats apart from the Machines and the Beasts. There was the acidic rain, which happened around once every two months. There was feral animals that still hung on to life and prowled ever closer to the cities. And there were other humans who had reveled in the freedom that the apocalypse had brought to them.

But Lukas wasn't as worried about the humans as he was about the mechanical things. Humans he could kill easily. He'd done quite a lot of that during the viking times, and the old skills had started to come back to him. It was a gruesome thought, and one that Lukas wasn't sure that he enjoyed.

But he wasn't about to let some sadist get to his family. No, he would die himself before that happened. And Lukas didn't plan on dying.

Still, better safe than sorry. They'd stopped trying to reassure people that things were going to be okay after the time that Berwald was killed and came back. They played it safe, taking shelter in the loft of the church.

There was a part of Lukas that wished there was an easy solution. Surely there was some sort of switch that would turn off the power to all of the mechanical beings… but if there was such a thing, nobody had any idea how to find it. Maybe there was an alpha Machine. Maybe if they could take it down, somehow, everything else would stop and humanity could find a way to piece itself back together.

 _But for now, all that matters is that my family is safe,_ he thought. _And I'll do anything to keep them that way_.

 _Anything._


	2. Chapter 2

The moon's light was a dull silver as it filtered through the window and illuminated the dusty floor of the loft. Particles of dust were caught in the moonbeams, and Lukas found himself entranced by their slow movements.

Around him his family slept peacefully, their soft breathing filling the air. Lukas was the only one up. Ever since the apocalyptic events had started taking place, sleep had been something that was incredibly difficult to come across. It was a tantalizing thing that Lukas could only hope he'd get enough of, because if he didn't sleep then his movements would turn sluggish. He couldn't afford for that to happen.

For a little while after his insomnia had worsened he'd had some melatonin that the government had given to him. It wasn't the best and it didn't help him stay asleep, but it was certainly better than nothing. He'd run out fairly quickly.

But now, in the pale light, Lukas found contentment in looking around at the peaceful faces of his family.

Berwald's stern features never really seemed to change, though they'd certainly softened during sleep, the worry lines disappearing. Tino had the vaguest of smiles upon his face, and Lukas could only assume that he was dreaming of a time when their entire family was together. He'd lost Peter and Hanatamago, and as much as he tried to cover up his pain with an optimistic and hopeful view of the future, it still shone through in his dull purple eyes. Emil's expression had smoothed from concern and fear into an innocent look of peace. He was sleeping to Lukas' right side, and he'd curled inward slightly.

Lukas looked at Mathias, who slept to his left. He couldn't resist running a hand through his impossibly spiky hair, and sighing a little. Mathias blinked open his eyes, shifting from sleep to wakefulness shockingly quick. Lukas wasn't entirely sure that he was entirely asleep to begin with.

"Sorry," Lukas murmured.

Mathias shook his head. "No need to be," he said quietly, and reached a hand up to brush it across Lukas' cheek. "The moonlight makes you even more beautiful."

Lukas sighed, and brought his hand up to cup around Mathias'. He leaned forward and kissed his forehead, then shifted back so that he could look into his eyes.

"Do you ever think that things will go back to normal?" Lukas whispered. He settled into the curve of Mathias' chest, wrapping his arms around him and exhaling.

"Yeah," Mathias said. "It has to. I'll get you there, I promise, I'll get you to a place where we can all be happy again."

Mathias clutched Lukas close to him, as if trying to protect him from the monsters. Trying to protect him from the Machines. Trying to protect him from the Beasts. Trying to show him just how deep Mathias' love for Lukas truly was.

"I guess I'll just have to hold you to that, then," Lukas murmured, and he let his eyes close.

Curled up in Mathias' arms, sleep certainly did come easier. Lukas found himself slipping into the inky oblivion of rest, lulled asleep by Mathias' deep breathing and soft murmuring.

"Lukas."

Something poked him.

Lukas blinked open his eyes, startled at the bright light filtering in through the window. He hadn't rested that well for a good while, and he was still enjoying and basking in the feeling that comes from a deep sleep.

Emil poked him again, jabbing his shoulder with his index finger.

"There's sounds coming from outside, Lukas," Emil said, his voice a low murmur. "Human sounds."

Lukas nodded. The other people would either be friendly or not, there was no in between. He stood up, grabbing his gun and padding softly to the window where Mathias and Berwald already stood.

He peered through one of the holes in the glass.

On the streets outside Lukas could see two people. They were walking slowly and talking, swinging their guns casually around. They didn't seem to be afraid, as they should be. He couldn't make out their physical features very well, only that one of them was wearing a big tan trench coat.

Lukas had to strain to hear what they were saying.

"–but wouldn't they have headed for the camp?" one of them said.

Lukas frowned. That voice sounded an awful lot like…

"Who would've told them?" the other responded.

It suddenly clicked, and Lukas met Mathias' shocked gaze.

Netherlands and Russia. Lars and Ivan. Lukas looked again out of the window, and he realized that he could faintly make out their features.

Before he could say anything, Mathias had stuck his head out of one of the window's larger cracks.

"Lars!" he yelled. "Ivan!" In the blink of an eye a gunshot was heard, and a new hole appeared in the window a few feet away from Mathias' head.

Mathias jerked back.

"Sorry!" Ivan called out, his childish tone seeming so out of place in the grim atmosphere. "Didn't know that it was you, Mathias!"

"It's fine," Mathias shouted back, but there was a slightly perceptible tremor in his voice. "Come inside, before anyone sees you!"

Lukas wondered how they hadn't been spotted before. Maybe they had, but Lars and Ivan were both formidable enemies and could probably handle anything that came into their path.

Mathias sprinted down the stairs, the rest of the Nordics following after him slowly. They'd locked the doors in hope that it would keep at least some of the threats out, and Mathias lifted the key from his pocket and unlocked them.

Lars and Ivan stepped into the church. Mathias hugged Lars, laughing relievedly as he clapped his back. He grinned.

"How'd you find us?" he asked, nodding to acknowledge Ivan instead of hugging him.

"We've been looking for a while," Lars responded. "We wanted to tell you something, because we're fairly sure that no one's gotten any news up to you for a while."

"What is it you want to tell us?" Tino asked. He gestured upward. "We should probably go back upstairs… our shouting back there wasn't exactly quiet."

They nodded, and followed Tino up the winding staircase and to the uppermost floor, where Ivan and Lars took in the Nordics' living quarters with curious eyes.

"Would you like anything to eat?" Mathias said. "You must've walked a long way."

"That'd be great," Lars responded. "We haven't really had time to eat for a while."

They did look a lot skinnier, though Lars was gaunt while Ivan was merely slightly less imposing and his tan jacket hung a bit looser on his frame.

Tino nodded and grabbed them a tin of fruit.

Once Lars and Ivan had both eaten enough, Lars leaned forward a little. "Have you seen any nations since the Beast attacks?"

"No," Mathias said. "We've heard some news though, but that was through a messenger Elizaveta sent us. She said that Romania and Bulgaria had made it to her, but not much more. Aside from that, all we've heard had came from the government. Before they kicked us out."

Lars nodded. "Well, there's more. All the nations are going to meet in Hamburg. There's a massive refugee camp there, and they've done a fairly good job fortifying the city. A lot of nations are already there." He turned to Tino. "Peter's there. Arthur's taking care of him."

Tino lunged forward, clutching Lars' shoulders desperately. "He's there? Are you sure? How is he? Oh god, oh god, oh god…"

Berwald pulled Tino back, hugging him firmly and resting his head on Tino's shoulder.

"Yes," Lars said. "He was alright when we left, though he did have the dust cough."

The dust cough had become a popular term when the Beasts had come and started destroying things. The dust and ash clouds had extended into the air for miles, triggering many people to develop a rather nasty cough. Most of the time it would go away quickly, though sometimes it would linger. Lukas wasn't sure, it might even be fatal.

Tino must've been thinking the same thing, because he jolted up and to the supply area. "We have to go right now. We're leaving now."

They talked as they prepared to leave.

"How did you find us?" Lukas asked.

"We figured that you'd be somewhere in Denmark," Ivan said. "Somewhere connected to continental Europe. So we started walking. A little across the German-Danish border we found a family who said that they'd seen a family of five in Sønderborg whose physical appearances matched yours exactly."

"How long did it take you to get to us?" Mathias asked, shoving cans into his backpack.

"Around a week and a half," Lars said. "We've been in Sønderborg for two days."

Tino tapped his foot impatiently. "Let's _go_ already," he said. "Peter's waiting."

"Your son will be happy to know that you're alive," Ivan said. "He's cried a lot." He tilted his head. "That might be a side effect of the cough."

"No, it was because he missed us," Tino said. "I know Peter."

Ivan nodded.

They'd packed fairly quickly, placing everything that they could take from their supply pile into their packs. Even though the temperatures were extremely warm they wore their jackets. It'd protect them from the sun, plus it was more comfortable to sleep on a jacket then on the ground.

Everything seemed so sudden, and Lukas still couldn't quite wrap his head around the idea that Lars and Ivan had showed up and told them of the existence of a major encampment. If anyone knew of any way to defeat the Machines, it was likely that they'd be at that camp.

Lukas made to grab Emil's hand, but the younger yanked it away. "You don't need to hold my hand," Emil said. "I'm not little anymore."

 _He's wrong_ , Lukas thought. _He's still so young… he deserves so much better than this world._

Instead of voicing his thoughts, Lukas merely shrugged and followed Tino down the stars. He trailed his hand on the railing, his hand picking up dust.

Lukas turned to Ivan, who walked beside him. The Russian gave him chills at the best of times, but now, during the apocalypse and at the end of the world, he practically emanated an air that induced terror.

"Have you encountered any Beasts or other difficulties?" he asked.

Ivan smiled. "Yes," he said. "We destroyed anything in our path, though."

Lukas wondered how many mechanical things and humans had met their demises at the hands of the Russian. He decided that he didn't care. Ivan was on his side, and they shared common enemies.

"It should take us less time to get back to Hamburg now that we know our path," Lars said. "We'll be able to head directly there."

They stepped out into the sunlight.


	3. Chapter 3

And so they started to walk.

It wasn't long before Lukas started to get a sense of unease, a feeling that seemed to creep over him and turn his mind into a maelstrom of swirling thoughts of dangers and all that could go wrong.

He turned his head to the right. Lukas could see nothing of importance; all that stood to the side of the road was a lone tree.

He turned his head to the left. A house. An old, decrepit house, worn down into a wooden skeleton of a thing.

 _Could something be hiding in there?_ he thought, biting his lip. _Is it worth asking the group to stop and investigate?_

Lukas decided not to ask. Even in this apocalyptic wasteland of a world, he had a reputation to uphold. Also, he wasn't going to appear afraid in front of his little brother. He couldn't afford to be seen as paranoid.

They passed the building without incident, though Lukas couldn't shake the feeling of being watched.

Emil turned to him.

"Lukas," he said softly, making sure that his voice didn't carry far so that the others wouldn't overhear what he was saying. "Lukas, I don't think we're alone. I think someone's following us."

Emil glanced behind them, and Lukas followed his gaze.

There wasn't anything except for the city where they had come from and the cracked asphalt of the road.

Lukas turned back to face forward, and continued walking, Emil padding carefully at his side.

"I feel it too," Lukas said uneasily, and turned to Mathias, who was walking on his right side. "Mathias, do you get the sense that we're being watched?"

"Yeah, I've been feeling it for a little bit now," Mathias said. "I think we're being followed."

 _It would make sense,_ Lukas thought _, seeing as our reunion with Lars and Ivan wasn't actually that quiet._

The group continued walking in silence, and Mathias dropped behind Lukas and Emil to guard the back, a decision that Lukas didn't particularly like. He needed to make sure that nothing happened to his little brother or the man that he loved, and he couldn't save Mathias' life if he couldn't see what was behind him.

An hour and a half passed without conflict, though the feeling of unease persisted. It festered in the air around them, and many furtive glances were cast at their surroundings.

"We've got maybe three hours more of sunlight," Mathias said, looking up at the sky. "Where did you guys stay in the night on your way here?"

Ivan looked back, and shrugged, a smallish smile playing on his lips.

"Wherever," he said vaguely. "Up high, usually. Hidden."

"People weren't a danger to us," Lars added. "They didn't bother us at all."

Lukas could see why. Ivan alone was someone that most people wouldn't approach in general, much less in the apocalypse. Add Lars and you'd get a duo that would strike fear into anyone.

Still, someone was following them, someone who was either very brave or very stupid or very self-assured that they could take on seven nations.

Maybe it was one of those gangs, the groups of people that formed after things started to get worse. They revelled in murder and other disgusting acts, so it wasn't a far-fetched idea that they might be following them.

They plodded on for another half hour before Ivan stopped walking. He turned around and stared past Mathias, looking directly at a few bushes on the side of the road.

"Hello," he said, his voice pleasantly neutral with a chilling undertone. "Why don't you join us?"

"What if I don't want to?" a self-assured voice said.

Lukas knew that voice, he knew it well. It was connected to a man who never knew how to shut up, and who was almost as annoying (if not more) than Mathias.

 _Alfred._

Sure enough, from out behind the bush stepped the American, trademark smile and all.

 _How did he even get to Europe?_ Lukas wondered.

"Alfred," Lars said as Alfred walked up to join them. "Why are you here? Weren't you going to try to make it back to America to visit your people?"

Alfred's expression turned dark.

"You didn't hear?" he asked, biting his lip and looking off into the distance. Lars shook his head. "Matthew arrived a few days ago on a plane that he'd had in a government facility in case of emergencies. He came bringing a few bars of chocolate and some news. America is gone."

Lukas jerked back.

"What?" Mathias asked, a confused expression on his face. "How could the US just… disappear?"

"Not like that, the land is still there, but the people…" Alfred trailed off, and Lukas could see a tear start to trickle down his cheek. "The people are all gone. Acid rain and fire destroyed the entire country."

"Oh god, Alfred…" Tino said, placing a supportive hand on Alfred's shoulder, "I'm so, so sorry…"

Alfred sniffed, and tried to put on a smile again.

"There are still a few Americans who came with me on the plane over here at that refugee camp in Hamburg," he said. "But me and them, we're all that's left."

They all took a moment of silence, recognizing the lives of the lost.

A lot still didn't make sense to Lukas. How could the acid rain and fire wipe out an entire country? Maybe the acidic substance was worse in America, maybe it ate through solid material… Maybe a wildfire, big and full of destruction and chaos, swept through the US, engulfing all that it touched in an inferno of flame…

He wasn't sure. He didn't want to think about it. He wanted to focus on staying alive and keeping his family alive as well.

Lukas looked up.

"Why did you come try to find us?" he asked, his voice quiet.

"The other nations were getting worried about what was taking so long, and were slightly concerned that something might've happened to you. So I volunteered to come see what was the matter," Alfred said.

"Is everyone else there?" Mathias asked hopefully. "Have all the other nations survived?"

Alfred bit his lip.

"No," he said. "They did not. There's only maybe ten so far, or at least there was that many when I left a few days ago."

"Peter's there, right?" Tino asked, desperation and hope tinging his voice. "Is he okay?"

"Peter's there, yeah," Alfred said, pausing a little. "But his cough is getting worse. He's hardly able to say a sentence without bursting into a fit."

"Oh my god…" Tino said, fear evident in his tone. "Oh my god we have to keep walking. Let's go!"

The group started again, padding in the same order as before, only this time with Alfred bringing up the rear beside Mathias.

"How long did it take you to get to where we are from Hamburg?" Mathias asked.

"Four days," Alfred replied, "But I didn't stop at all."

"We won't stop either," Tino said. "I'm going to get to Peter and we're going to help him get better. We'll do everything we can."

"I'm sure you will," Alfred said. "You two are good parents."

The sun had started to make its way to the horizon, and Lukas realized that there wouldn't be too much daylight left, maybe an hour more at most. And it certainly wasn't a good idea to be out at night.

The others seemed to be thinking the same thoughts, because Emil glanced nervously toward the sky and the sinking sun, and bit his lip.

"We should be going. We need to find somewhere to spend the night," he said.

Tino nodded.

"We need to stay safe." He turned to Berwald. "Peter needs us."

Berwald nodded, and the group started walking again.

 _Well,_ Lukas thought, _Alfred is preferable to a gang, or something else…_

If someone (or some _thing_ ) was going to be following them, Lukas would rather have a fellow nation than someone with malicious or harmful intent.

"So, what nations have made it to the camp so far?" Mathias asked Alfred.

"Elizaveta, Kiku, Antonio, Ludwig, Feliks, Gilbert, and Peter. Then there's me, Lars, and Ivan. And now you guys."

"Is that everyone? Is this all that's left?" Mathias asked in a shocked and saddened tone.

Lukas couldn't stand to hear the despair in Mathias' voice. It didn't become the normally sunshine-filled man, and it just seemed so _wrong_.

"We don't know," Alfred responded. "We're hoping for the best, but y'know… With the internet and power down, it's difficult to get messages to people…"

"Yeah," Mathias said. "Yeah."

"Is… Is Leon there?" Emil asked, turning his head to face Alfred.

Lukas could see grief and fear in his eyes, along with a fragile sliver of hope.

"No," Alfred said. "He, Yao, and Kiku were on their way over, but something happened. Kiku won't talk about it. But Yao and Leon didn't make it."

"Are you sure? Maybe Leon's following them! He'll be there when we get to the camp, I'm sure of it…" Emil blurted.

Lukas put an arm around his little brother's shoulder.

Even though he hadn't been the biggest fan of Emil and Leon's relationship, he'd still supported what Emil wanted.

He couldn't imagine how he'd feel if he lost Mathias.

Emil ducked out from under Lukas' arm, and whipped around to face him, his teeth gritted and his eyes narrowed.

"I don't need your help," he said. "Leon is going to be there. He has to be."

Lukas could see Alfred and Mathias exchanging a sorrowful look out of the corner of his eye, and he sighed.

There was almost no chance that Leon would still be alive, and the rest of the group knew it. Kiku wasn't one to lie, and if he wouldn't talk about what happened then it was probable that it had involved something terrible, something awful, something atrocious. In this hell of a world, any gruesome end was possible.

"There is a town," Ivan said. "Up ahead. We'll set up a camp there."

It wasn't a question. He wasn't asking the group what they wanted to do, or if they thought that was a good idea. Ivan was simply stating what they were going to do, and it was expected that they'd all follow his lead.

They did.

Once they reached the town, the group clustered a little closer together, and Lukas kept one hand on his rifle.

Towns weren't safe. (Nowhere was safe, but towns were the most dangerous. Anything could be hiding in the broken-down buildings, watching them from broken windows.)

"How about there?" Tino asked, gesturing his rifle at a tallish building.

"Mm, it seems protected," Berwald responded.

"We'll have to set up a watch though," Lars added. "But yes, that will work."

The building's doors were closed, but they weren't locked.

Lukas wasn't sure if that was a good sign or if that was a bad sign.

Either way, the sun had already disappeared behind one of the buildings, and soon the light would be gone. It was dangerous to use a flashlight or start a fire, but they could if they needed to.

Besides, shelter was better than no shelter.

Ivan led the group inside, the interior of the building illuminated just enough by the dim light that filtered in the windows for Lukas to be able to make out the vague shapes.

It seemed like this used to be a library.

Books lay scattered all over the floor, and Lukas had to pick his way carefully amongst them.

"I think there's a second story, from what I could see," Lars said. "It might be safest to set up a camp up there. We'll have a better vantage point."

They made their way over to the stairs, walking up carefully to the second floor.

This one had more windows, and it was easier to make out the detail surrounding them.

"There are some chairs scattered around this floor, we could sleep on them," Alfred said, gesturing at a faux leather recliner. "Dibs on that one."

"Shouldn't we check out the rest of the library to make sure that it's safe?" Emil asked, and Lukas could hear a little bit of fear in his voice.

"Let's set up a guard. Who'll take first shift?" Alfred asked.

"I will," Lukas said.

He knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep anyway.

"I'll join you," Mathias chimed in. "Wouldn't want anything to happen, Lucky."

Lukas grit his teeth. 'Lucky' was a nickname that Mathias had taken to calling him. Mathias had told him that Lukas was his lucky charm, and that he'd protect him to the end of the world.

It was a sweet endearment, but the nickname was embarrassing.

"Don't call me that," he said. "If you're going to take first-watch with me you can't call me that."

"Alright, I won't for _now_ ," Mathias said. "No guarantees for the future.

That was probably the best that Lukas would get out of the stubborn sunny-haired man, so he kept quiet.

"Should we light a fire?" Emil asked. "For warmth and light."

"No," Tino responded. "It makes it more dangerous. And we have to make it to Hamburg. I won't let anything stop us."

They set up a little camp. Emil made as to set up his sleeping area a bit away from the rest of the Nordics, but changed his mind. He walked over to Lukas, who was sitting by the window, and spread a blanket out on the floor.

He flopped down, turning so that his back was against Lukas'.

"Wake me up when it's my time to guard," Emil said. "I'm going to sleep."

Lukas smiled, a soft, genuine, caring smile.

"Sleep well," he said.

Mathias sat beside them. He cast a grin toward Lukas, then turned his head to stare out the window. Lukas certainly appreciated that jawline, just as much as he appreciated the man that it belonged to.

"Love you," Mathias said. Quietly, he added, "Lucky."

Lukas narrowed his eyes at him, though he was sure that Mathias couldn't quite see that in the darkening gloom.

He sighed.

 _If I'm your good-luck charm, then I'll have to hope that my luck never runs out. I'll get you and Emil to safety. I promise._


	4. Chapter 4

The night passed by swiftly.

Mathias and Lukas traded places with Tino and Alfred, though as hard as Lukas tried to fall asleep, he simply couldn't. Too many thoughts were rolling around inside his head.

When dawn came at last, Lukas sat up slowly, stretching a little.

His head had started to hurt a bit at some point during the night, and he winced as he touched his hand to his forehead.

 _Damn, I hope this goes away soon,_ he thought. _No need to make this hell more hell-like than it already is._

"Something wrong?" Emil asked, pushing himself up to a sitting position.

"No," Lukas said. "Nothing."

Emil looked unconvinced, but dropped the matter. He stood up, and walked over to the window, looking outside.

"I miss the frost," Emil whispered. "I miss the cold."

Lukas stood up to join him, and said, "I do too."

"I just hope that one day we'll be able to see it again, y'know? It's too hot in the goddamn place now for anything good."

Emil cast his gaze down to the street below them. He bit his lip, and Lukas could see that Emil was trying incredibly hard to hold back tears.

He brushed a supportive hand against Emil's shoulder, but drew it back when Emil fixed him with a glare that clearly spelled out _DON'T. TOUCH. ME._

Lukas sighed softly, then knelt to roll up the blanket that he had slept on, meticulously packing it into his backpack. There weren't many items in there. Not enough to last. Lukas hoped that there would be a better stockpile in Hamburg.

Behind him, Tino and Berwald were having a conversation. Tino's voice had started to get a bit heated, and Lukas listened in.

"Why didn't we keep going? We could've kept walking. We're all strong enough to do that," Tino said, scowling a little, the expression out of place on his usually cheerful and bright face.

"We need to stay safe. Being out in the night is dangerous, even for us," Berwald said in response.

Tino didn't seem happy with that response, but Alfred called out to the group before he could respond.

"Let's get going then, we've got some ground to cover!"

They filed out of the library, Lukas casting a glance backwards to make sure they didn't leave anything behind. There was nothing, nothing except the soft sunbeams of light shining in through the windows that were filled with dust particles. It was almost a peaceful scene.

Lukas turned to face the open door, and the world that lay beyond it.

The streets were cracked, the sidewalks stained, and the windows broken. It painted a grim picture, a harsh reality.

They walked in silence.

Just when the edge of the city came into sight, Lukas heard a sound.

A scratch of metal on cement. A creaking of mechanical joints. The whirr of gears and engines turning, and the growl of some inhuman creature snaking its way through the streets.

The Beast came into view, bursting out from inside an alley.

It was larger than the average one that Lukas had fought, measuring about twenty feet in the air. Its face looked like something out of a nightmare, the broken skull of some animal paired with metal, gears, and two haunting glowing red eyes.

"Run," Emil whispered.

"Fight!" Alfred yelled, and charged toward the thing, unslinging his assault rifle as he ran.

The sound of shots echoed out, and the Beast recoiled a little bit, its left eye dimming.

 _This shouldn't be too hard,_ Lukas thought, and he raised his rifle to aim at the right eye. _There's a lot of us and only one of it._

And then he heard them.

More sounds, almost identical to the sound of the first Beast.

Coming from all around him.

Lukas whirled around, and made out the shapes of six different Beasts stalking toward their group, moving slowly yet surely and with a catlike grace.

"Now do we run?" Emil asked, his voice filled with terror.

"Yeah," Mathias said. "Yeah, that might be a good idea."

Emil took off sprinting, and Lukas followed after him, not checking behind him to make sure if the rest of the group was following or not. He knew that Mathias was, he'd recognize the familiar fall of the Dane's footsteps anywhere.

A flash of silvery grey metal, and a Beast leapt in front of them. It stalked toward them, head tilted menacingly. This one only had a single eye, brilliant red and glowing.

Emil seemed to be frozen to where he stood, only trembling and looking up at the Beast with wide, scared eyes.

Lukas dove in front of him, and Mathias skidded to a halt beside Lukas.

"Let's take this thing down together," Mathias said, and he aimed his rifle at the eye.

Lukas followed suit.

They shot at the same time, the sprays of bullets hitting the Beast directly in its eye. What they shot at it should've been enough to destroy the red sphere multiple times. The thing should've exploded and gone back to whatever metal hell it came from.

But it didn't.

Instead, the eye dimmed by just a hair. And if horrific mechanical monsters could look angry, then this one sure did.

"Run," Mathias said. "I'll hold him off, then meet you at Hamburg."

"Hell no," Lukas responded, aiming his gun again.

He shot. Then shot again. Then shot a third time. Spray after spray of bullets hit that red eye. It dimmed a little each time, not enough to make any difference. Not enough to destroy it.

The beast started to stalk forward, moving with an almost feline grace. Its movements were tauntingly slow.

Mathias placed a hand on Lukas' shoulder, and Lukas stopped firing.

"Lukas. Please go, you've gotta protect Emil," he said. "I'll be with you again before you know it."

"You're coming with us. We're all going to make it through this alive," Lukas responded. "I'm _not_ leaving you."

Mathias placed himself in front of Lukas, then turned to give him a brief smile and a wink.

"I'm not planning on dying, Lucky, I've got too much to live for," he said. "Now go. I promise I'll see you in Hamburg. Anywhere closer is too dangerous. _Go._ "

He gave Lukas a gentle shove, then turned back around to face the Beast.

Emil tugged at Lukas' arm.

"He can't fight if he's trying to talk to you," Emil said. "We need to run. We'll meet him in Hamburg."

Lukas could hear the fear in Emil's voice. He was completely torn. On the one hand, the man that he loved was standing in front of a metallic monster. On the other, his little brother, one of the most precious things in the world to him, was terrified out of his goddamn mind.

 _Trust Mathias. He'll meet you in Hamburg, just like he promised. Mathias doesn't break promises._

 _But how can he know? How can anyone know anything in this godforsaken world…_

Emil made his decision for him by starting to sprint, and tugging Lukas' hand.

"Let's fucking go!" Emil yelled, and Lukas had no choice but to follow him.

He didn't look back. He couldn't. His resolve to leave the person he loved behind was weak enough as it was, but he knew that he couldn't leave Emil to himself. Mathias could protect himself on his own better than Emil could, that was something that Lukas knew for sure.

Emil was faster than Lukas had thought, and he had to work hard to keep up to his little brother. Maybe if he ran fast enough, the memory of the sad yet determined expression that Mathias had worn when they parted would dissipate in his mind.

They didn't stop running until they were far, far away. Far enough that they couldn't hear anything except for the dead silence and their ragged breathing.

Lukas could feel a tear start to form in the corner of his eye, and he shook his head furiously.

 _He's going to be fine,_ a part of him reasoned with himself. _He did promise._

"Lukas," Emil panted, "Lukas you made the right choice."

Lukas gave Emil a brief smile, a small, grim, ragged ghost of a smile. There was a lump in his throat, and he knew that if he had to say much he'd burst into tears. And that was something that he couldn't afford to do.

"I hope," he said with difficulty, clipping his words short. He looked up at the buildings around them. "We should get going again."

Emil nodded, and they took off, this time at a walking pace. They needed to conserve their energy.

Soon, the buildings started to thin out, and eventually they reached an open meadow on the edge of the city.

It was filled with dead grass, yellow and broken, with a leafless tree scattered here and there. It was fairly large, and the road in front of them was stained suspiciously brownish red, and Lukas had a feeling that he didn't want to know what had transpired here.

There were a few bones as well, scattered alongside the edge of the highway.

A small _crack_ rang out, and Emil made a noise of disgust as his foot punched through a human skull. He shook his leg to dislodge it, and the skull tumbled toward Lukas' feet.

Lukas knelt, and trailed a finger along the top of it. He didn't really feel it, he hadn't really been feeling much apart from shock and anger at himself for leaving Mathias behind.

He felt a pang of pain, and looked down to see a fragment of bone lodged in his finger. A bead of scarlet blood had started to pool up around it, and as Lukas gingerly picked the bone out of his skin, a small drop fell to the asphalt.

Lukas stared at it for a few seconds, until it became indistinguishable from the rest of the red-brown highway.

He stood.

"Let's wait for a little while by that tree," he said, gesturing toward a dead tree a little way off the edge of the highway.

Lukas' voice sounded emotionless, and speaking without crying was a difficult task.

 _Go numb. Make it to Hamburg. Don't let emotions weigh you down._

Easier said than done.

"We can't wait for long though," Emil said, and they started heading toward the tree. "Mathias said Hamburg, so let's try to get there as soon as we can."

"Okay," Lukas responded. "An hour. We'll wait an hour."

Emil looked like he was about to argue, but his attachment to Mathias and his empathy for Lukas' love for the Dane won out.

"Yeah," he said. "If it was Leon I'd want to wait too."

They sat on the dead grass, and Lukas leaned his back against the tree. He was tempted to close his eyes, to sleep, but his heart wouldn't allow that.

He barely blinked, his gaze fixated at the point where the highway emerged from between the buildings.

Half an hour later, a bit of movement caught his eye.

At first, Lukas was worried that it might be a Beast. He heard Emil draw in a breath in anticipation, but they both relaxed a little as they made it out to be a human figure.

 _Please be Mathias, please be Mathias, please be Mathias,_ he thought.

The figure came closer, and it became apparent that whoever it was had a heavy limp. As they walked a bit more, drawing closer to the tree, Lukas was able to make out some features.

A mop of blonde hair, small in stature, a face that normally wore a cheerful smile on it but now was marked with a worried, panicked expression.

Tino.

Lukas felt ashamed of the wave of disappointment that hit him at that revelation. He hadn't realize how desperately he'd been hoping that it was Mathias…

"Tino!" Emil yelled, jogging toward the highway. "It's us!"

Tino looked up, and as Lukas followed Emil he made out the ghost of a smile cross Tino's face.

"Lukas, Emil, you guys are alive…" Tino's tone had a hint of relief in it, but the rest was weighed down by anxious concern. "Where's Mathias? And have you seen Berwald?"

Lukas bit his lip, preparing to answer Tino's question, but Emil beat him to it.

"He stayed behind. We're gonna meet him in Hamburg, at the camp," Emil said. "And no, you're the first person that we've seen exit the city so far…"

Tino nodded, a sad, tired, pitiful nod that made him seem like something small in need of protection.

"The thing, the Beast, it shot some sort of dart at my leg," Tino said. "Berwald told me the same thing, that he'd meet me in Hamburg. I told him there was no fucking way in hell that I'd leave him. Then… then he said that Peter needed me, and I knew he was right…"

Tino shook his head angrily, and Lukas saw a tear fall to the ground.

"It's okay," Emil said, and he gave Tino a small hug. "Berwald and Mathias don't break promises. Remember that time that we were lost in the forest somewhere in Denmark? They promised they'd find a way out. Sure, we spent a while in the woods, and I almost froze to death several times, but they did! They got us out."

Emil paused, thinking.

"Then there was that time when we got separated from Berwald in Hammelev, remember? It was kinda like this, except there were a whole lot more Beasts. He told us that he'd meet up with us at the edge of the city, and he did. He was a little worse for the wear, that's for sure, I don't think that scar on his arm has faded, but that's not the point. The point is that they're going to be fine, and they're going to meet us in Hamburg. So let's start walking."

Lukas looked at Emil, and it was all that he could do to not burst out into tears.

Tino gave Emil a small smile, and said, "You're right, Em, we've got to get going."

Emil gave Tino a little hug, then turned to Lukas.

"It's okay, he'll be there," Emil said, giving Lukas a hug as well.

Lukas found that he didn't want to let go. He wanted to hold onto someone, he wanted to hold onto Mathias. He wanted to protect Emil. He wanted life to go back to normal, like the way it was before everything happened. He wanted… he wanted to give a happy life to the people he loved.

Finally, Lukas let go. Emil stepped back, and there was a knowing look in his eye. It was sympathetic, and Lukas hated being pitied.

He gave a little nod.

"Let's go," Lukas said.

They started walking again. Tino tried to fill up the silence with chatter, but his thoughts were so scattered that nothing he said made much sense. His limp grew more and more pronounced, but he marched stubbornly onward.

Eventually, they stopped talking altogether, and just walked in silence.

The sun made its way across the sky, and they only stopped once to eat something. (They were reminded by Emil that they needed food, Tino and Lukas were far too wrapped up in their feelings to notice what they physically needed.

Lukas pulled out a packet of beef jerky. He wouldn't eat it all, he had to save some for later. In fact, Lukas didn't think he could eat more than a little without throwing up.

He put a piece in his mouth, and chewed slowly.

It tasted dry.

Lukas swallowed, and ate another piece. The process was almost mechanical in motion, and Lukas felt more like some automaton than a living being.

"We should start walking again," Tino said. "We've got maybe an hour of sunlight left? And we've got to stay safe. We have to make it to Hamburg."

Lukas nodded, stowing the rest of the beef jerky back in his bag. He took a swig of water from his water bottle, then looked at how much was left.

 _Fuck, I'm almost out._

He had another water bottle in his backpack, a small one that he'd carried just in case Emil needed an extra.

"How much water do you have?" Lukas asked Emil.

"More than you," Emil responded. "If you run out, you can have some of mine."

Lukas shook his head, and said, "I won't run out, but thanks."

They started walking again, and soon the sky began to grow darker and darker as night approached.

Eventually, they made out a town in the distance, the buildings reaching upward toward the sky.

"We won't make it there before night sets in," Lukas said. "And the cities aren't safe if you're out on the streets at night."

"How about we stay in that bus stop?" Tino asked, pointing toward a small structure a little bit ahead. "It's not much, but it'll keep us more protected than we are right now."

"Sounds good," Emil said.

They made their way over to the bus stop, and Lukas took his blanket out of his bag.

There was no way in hell that he'd sleep, but it'd be more comfortable to sit on a blanket than on the cement.

Tino did the same, spreading his blanket out beside Lukas' and sitting up straight.

"I'll watch," Lukas said.

"I won't be able to sleep. We'll both watch." Tino bit his lip. "Maybe they'll pass by in the night."

"All three of us are going to stay up anyway," Emil said.

"Go to sleep, Emil," Lukas responded. "You need your rest."

"So do you, I know for a fact that you didn't sleep at all last night," Emil shot back. "Dammit, Lukas, I'm not sleeping until we find Mathias and Berwald and the others."

 _Touché._

"Fine then," Lukas said. "We'll all watch together."

They sat like that for a while, all of them retaining a rigid posture as they stared at the road.

Soon, Emil began to slump a little bit, and his head kept falling forward. He was desperately fighting to stay awake, but exhaustion was quick to set in. Emil rested his head on Lukas' shoulder, and his breathing slowed to be deep and even.

Lukas turned to Emil, and gave a soft smile.

He wasn't sure if he regretted leaving Mathias or not. Well, he knew that he regretted the act of leaving him, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to feel happiness until they'd been reunited. But what he wasn't sure of was whether he'd rather save Emil or Mathias. His little brother or his lover.

Lukas was completely torn, but sitting there, softly trailing his fingers through Emil's pale silver hair, he got some sense of inner peace. Not happiness, but a quiet, thoughtful feeling.

He sighed.

His eyes drifted shut.

He blinked a few times.

 _You've gotta stay awake, you've gotta…_

His eyes drifted shut again.

And he fell asleep.


End file.
